May 14--A startup Memphis-based airline is touting "blue-collar" fares to Destin, Panama City Beach, Gulf Shores and New Orleans starting May 29.
Southern Airways Express announced initial routes and fares during a reception Monday at Olive Branch Airport but said reservations wouldn't be taken for another week at iflysouthern.com.
Fares on all flights will range from $129 to $249 each way. Flights from Olive Branch and Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport near Downtown Memphis will be offered first, and other cities will be announced in coming weeks, chairman and chief executive officer Stan Little said.
Fares out of Memphis will be lower in some cases than those at Memphis International Airport and comparable to "affordable" fares that Southwest is bringing to the city later this year, Little said.
"Even when you need to leave the same day you buy a ticket, you won't be paying the outrageous $800 to $1,000 fares charged by the dominant carrier," he said.
Little, 41, a Hernando attorney, said the airline has been well received. "Rather than having an air carrier that needed another city, we have a city that needs another air carrier," he said.
Local residents have been busy suggesting routes for Southern to fly. "We've got 50 different cities that have been requested," Little said.
He leads a group of Memphis-area investors who are seeking to offer a local alternative for air travelers.
Silent partners include two other lawyers, a former NFL player and a tour
ism industry professional, he said.
The company Facebook page showed guests at an "unofficial launch party" hosted by Memphis fashion designer Pat Kerr Tigrett.
Southern Airways Express will offer flights between small airports, called general aviation airports, using three 9-seat Cessna turboprops, a single-engine aircraft, registered to Southern Airways Charter.
FedEx Express employee Debra Walker of Memphis was among more than 100 people who showed up to tour a Southern plane on Monday and hear the announcement.
She said it could bring some much-needed competition to the Memphis market and give regional travelers more options.
"I think this is definitely needed," Walker said. "I think they might end up with more traffic than they can handle, which is a good problem for a startup to have."
Southern is flying into Lakefront Airport in New Orleans; Florida destinations are the Destin airport that's a half-mile from the center of Destin beach resort; Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City; and Jack Edwards National Airport in Gulf Shores.
Flying out of two Memphis-area airports gives the company the ability to offer up to eight nonstops a week from Memphis to the selected destinations. The Department of Transportation allows a charter operator to provide up to four scheduled flights weekly for each route, DOT spokesman Bill Mosley said.
The company's selling points include luxury-appointed cabins, no baggage or parking fees, no requirements for Transportation Security Administration screening of passengers, and a 15-minute minimum advance arrival time before flights.
Little said if the flights generate enough business, the airline plans to expand service with 19- and 29-passenger aircraft this fall to destinations such as Knoxville and Chattanooga.
A news release said it would be the first commercial passenger service ever offered between Memphis and Destin or Gulf Shores. In the wake of Delta Air Lines' elimination of nonstops around the region since its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines, Southern will be "the only carrier offering nonstop flights from Memphis to anywhere on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Tampa," the release said.
Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
